We study scalar and vector modulation instabilities induced by the vacuum
fluctuations in birefringent optical fibers. To this end, stochastic coupled
nonlinear Schrodinger equations are derived. The stochastic model is equivalent
to the quantum field operators equations and allow for dispersion,
nonlinearity, and arbitrary level of birefringence. Numerical integration of
the stochastic equations is compared to analytical formulas in the case of
scalar modulation instability and non depleted pump approximation. The effect
of classical noise and its competition with vacuum fluctuations for inducing
modulation instability is also addressed.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figure